Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and The Lord of the Rings have helped box office admissions rise across Europe in 2001, according to Screen International.

In the UK, cinema admissions reached 156 million, the highest figure for almost three decades, figures from the Cinema Advertising Association show.

Bridget Jones's Diary, Shrek, Cats and Dogs and Hannibal also performed well at the UK box office.

In France, cinema admissions were up to 185 million, the highest figure since 1984.

Indigenous productions accounted for 41% of the domestic market in France.

Worldwide

In Germany, the admissions lept to 166 million, up 13.5 million on 2000.

Across in Spain, admissions grew slightly on 2000 to 137 million.

Box office receipts for Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings worldwide stand at $800m (�553m) and $350m (�242m) respectively.

Both movies have easily earned back production costs and with sequels due later this year the success looks set to continue.

Cinema owners are also expecting a record year in 2002 with releases such as Star Wars: Episode 2, Spiderman and Monsters Inc. expected to do well.